Temptation:
Luring souls from delight in God since the fall of man. If sin wore a t-shirt,
that’d be the slogan written on it. And it’s true. Ever since Satan tempted
Eve, saying “Did God really say,” temptation has been plaguing the souls of
man, hindering them from worshipping God in spirit and in truth. But what is
temptation and how does it happen? What danger does it pose to my relationship?
More importantly, how can/should we fight it?
Simply put,
temptation is an event where an individual is being enticed or persuaded to
disobey God. For a more vivid description, consider James 1:14-15. “But each
person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire
when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings
forth death.” The word “lured” refers to being drawn away, like a fish whose
attention has been captivated by a shrimp in the water, not realizing that the
shrimp is bait on a hook! When we are tempted, our attention is drawn away from
God’s glory and the beauty of His righteous law. Something else begins to glow
with a distracting allure, causing us to shift our focus from God and gaze upon
it. That “something else” is sin. Sin looks beautiful, titillating our desires,
enticing us to partake in it. This moment of desire, when the heart is
distracted by the beauty of sin, is the event of temptation.
Also note
the progression given in this passage in James. Temptation starts with a
desire, which leads to an action whose effects lead to death. This means that
if we are going to fight temptation, we need to start at the level of our
desires. Desires are the soil in which the plant of temptation grows, so we
must start there. The question is “How?” How do we fight desires or guide them
in the proper direction? The answer is with enlightened affections. You fight
desire with desire.
The reason I call our weapon against temptation “enlightened
affections” is because these affections are not mere inclinations of the heart.
They are passionate dispositions informed and motivated by truth. Tempting
desires that lead to sin are not rooted in truth, but instead are produced by
the deceitfulness of sin. Sin presents itself to us as beautiful. It always
promises a good time. It is like the woman in Proverbs whose lips drip honey,
but her end is “as bitter as wormwood” and her feet lead down to Sheol. It lies
by telling us to question God’s goodness and the perfection of His law.
Temptation causes us to question God’s Word like the serpent in the garden,
then persuades us that God is holding out on us, trying to suppress and hinder
our delight as His creatures. This is not true! God’s will is good, acceptable,
and perfect! His law is perfect, reviving the soul! His commandments are pure,
enlightening the eyes! God wants us to find joy in Him, His way, and His truth,
which is far greater than anything sin could ever offer. When we find ourselves
being tempted, we must fight the deceiving allure of sin with the true beauty
of God. We must turn to look at Someone better, whose glory overpowers the persuasiveness
of sin. We also need to look past the outward adornment of sin and perceive its
true ugliness. Sin put God on a cross. Sin caused Him to undergo unbearable
torments that cannot even be put into words. Sin wants to drive you as far away
from God as possible, all the way to Hell. Sin stands head-to-head against God
and says “DIE!” Is that what we want? Is that what we wish to say to God? Do we
want to indulge in that for which Christ died? Heck no! When we meditate on
these things, temptation begins to lose its luster and allure and we can see
and act clearly.
Temptation
comes in all shapes, sizes, and varieties. It definitely will be/is present in
your relationship and it is your job to deal with it. Each temptation is an
opportunity to draw near to God or walk away from Him as a couple. Therefore,
if you make a habit of yielding to temptation, you’ll find yourselves far from
the standard and joy that God has for you as a couple. In my experience, sexual
temptation is incomprehensibly stronger and seemingly unavoidable while you’re
in a relationship with someone you love and long to give yourself to. Each
temptation for Asia and I is an opportunity for us to find joy in each other
without God. It’s our job as a couple to commit to resisting temptation and
turning to God. It’s my responsibility as the leader to say no to temptation
and submit to the authority of God in protection of Asia’s purity. When it
comes to temptation, your joy in God is at stake. What will you do?
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